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Having a new baby in your life suddenly makes everything more complicated. It´s amazing how somebody so small can command so much of your attention. Carefully planned home-cooked meals would be perfect at this time in your life, particularly if you´re nursing. The healthy food will provide good nutrition for your baby, as well as help you keep your own strength up. Unfortunately, takeout may be better adapted for your slightly chaotic lifestyle at this point. You may think that the words “healthy” and “takeout” are mutually exclusive, but in fact there are lots of healthy takeout options available to you.
Healthy Takeout Options
Many of today´s restaurants—even the fast-food ones—have healthy options on the menu. Soups, salads, and whole grains sandwiches are good places to start. Check the ingredients carefully; a soup full of vegetables may also be full of sodium and other additives you don´t want. Green salads are healthy and low in calories when they consist of greens and vegetables, but when you add cheese, dressing, candied nuts, and fried noodles the calorie count can go way up. Just remember you don´t have to eat everything shown on the menu board.
Get Creative
If you´re careful, you should be able to find healthy options in a variety of places. Even pizza isn´t necessarily off the table, according to fitbie.msn.com. You can slim down a pizza by choosing a thin crust, and going easy on cheese and fatty sausages and pepperoni. Many pizza parlors offer a variety of vegetables you can pile on your pizza instead.
In many establishments you can request special preparations for your food. If a chicken plate comes with a breaded fried chicken breast, ask if you can have it plain and grilled instead. If your sandwich comes with an order of fries, ask if you can substitute a side salad. If you´ve found a healthy and appealing appetizer, consider ordering that as your meal instead of a traditional entrée. If you´re ordering a burrito, cut out the cheese and sour cream and load up on the salsa for extra flavor. Or, you can skip the tortilla altogether and ask for your ingredients in a bowl.
Size Matters
In today´s super-sized society, you may find that smaller portions fill you up just fine. Don´t be afraid to ask for a small or half-portion, and don´t succumb to the pressure to upsize for only a few cents more. Buying more than you really need or want may only encourage you to overeat. It´s important to supply your body with enough calories to keep your energy up, particularly when some of that is going toward nursing a baby. However, overeating and weight gain won´t improve your energy or overall health.
You can fight the urge to supersize in other ways, too. If you know a portion you´ve ordered will be large, split it with someone. You can also save the extra portion for lunch or dinner the next day. Be vigilant and put the planned leftovers away immediately; the temptation to nibble on tomorrow´s dinner if it´s sitting in front of you can be overwhelming.
Don´t Give Up
Adhering to a healthy diet when you have a new baby can seem impossible at times, but maintaining your own health is essential to the health of your baby. Even if you don´t quite make it sometimes, it´s important to keep working toward that objective and never giving up. There are plenty of good options out there. With a little creativity, you can eat healthy while eating takeout.
Heather Twitchell is a freelance blogger and occasionally writes for delivery.com, a site she loves using to find local Chinese Food delivery services using their Food Delivery DC directory.
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